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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24267808">paint you mornings of gold</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/crimsongothic/pseuds/crimsongothic'>crimsongothic</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Labyrinth (1986)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Ballroom Dancing, Bittersweet, Dancing, F/M, Healing, Marriage, Reconciliation, Romance, Sad, Sad with a Happy Ending</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 23:35:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,055</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24267808</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/crimsongothic/pseuds/crimsongothic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>perhaps this time the world won't fall down</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jareth/Sarah Williams</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>36</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>paint you mornings of gold</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Sarah lets her gaze wander over to the mirror. She’s taken aback by her reflection. Her face has clearly aged in the years since she joined the goblin kingdom. She hasn’t lost her beauty, no. But the childlike features have long since gone away, leaving her more mature. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The old ball gown and repurposed wedding dress is held up to her body. Sarah isn’t sure if she’d fit in it anymore. Her shoulders are more broad, and she must’ve grown at least an inch or two since the marriage.</span>
</p>
<p><span>There’s been issues lately, between her and the king. She wonders if there was any part of their relationship that wasn’t doomed from the start. All at once she acknowledges the fact that problems may have not grown out of time, they could've simply emerged from the shadows recently. </span>Her emotional journey searching for the source had led her to the dress, which had been all but calling her from her closet. </p>
<p>
  <span>Jareth’s hand lands on her back, shattering her train of thought. His slender fingers wrap around a shoulder, gentle and stern all at once. Sarah truly wished he hadn’t noticed anything was wrong.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The second time you called upon me for help, I almost didn’t answer. The call to your room was too tempting though, and I did.” His breath is heavy on her neck, and she leans back into his body. “You asked me to take you away. I didn’t comply immediately like I had before. In fact, I gave you the option to take back what you said. An offer you of all people should’ve appreciated, considered longer. But you claimed you knew what you were doing, that you meant it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Imagine my surprise,” He removes himself from behind her, and Sarah’s reflection is lonely once again, “when I find out you do hold regrets.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sarah turns around, wanting to touch Jareth’s face, hold him close. And if that doesn’t work, at least talk. What she instead sees in their shared room, is nothing. He seems to have fled, disappeared. Then his voice is behind her. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Go on, ask.” She doesn’t want to give him the satisfaction of turning for him to vanish again. Sarah instead opts to go forward to their bed, and lay the dress down on it. The bedding dips next to her. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ask what?” Sarah makes it sound absentminded, as she strokes the glittery fabric. Anything to make him think she doesn’t care. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You know.” Jareth sounds so sure of himself, knowing he’s won before it’s even happened. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Fine. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If I wanted to,” the ‘if’ is important, “would you let me go back to my family?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No.” She can hear how smug he is. Sarah throws her arms up in exasperation. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Then why would you even-” of course he’s gone by the time she can spin around, “ask?..” Her hands reach for the gown on her other side, but being like he is, Jareth has taken it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is that the reason you’ve been upset with me, my love?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m not upset with </span>
  <em>
    <span>you, </span>
  </em>
  <span>I think I’m sad about us.” She allows herself to fall backwards onto the bed. For a moment, the heavy blankets drown out any white noise. It’s a semi-bliss. “Maybe we’ve grown apart.” She closes her eyes as fantasies fill her head. She didn’t always have to escape.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jareth appears at the foot of the bed, Sarah can feel his presence. The trance is broken, and there’s no reason to hide from him, as long as he’s not going to do the same. She sits up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dance with me.” The dress is draped over his outstretched arms, an offering. Sarah isn’t sure whether it’s a question or a command, but she nods anyway. It cascades down to the floor, as Jareth holds it open for her, ready to be stepped into. She does so, and Jareth slowly laces the back. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As she goes to face him, their background fizzles into a familiar ballroom. However this time, there are no laughing bystanders, nothing around the pair that is attempting to stop their meeting. A song plays in the background, a tune that’s been in Sarah’s head for years, yet one she’s never noticed. However, it’s muffled, choked out by the brightness in the room.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sing for me.” She requests. Jareth brings her left hand to his neck, and her right hand to his own. His right hand lands on her waist, and they begin to sway back and forth.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Only once they are in this position does he begin to perform the melody. She follows the words along in her head, she knows them as they leave his mouth. Sarah just can’t recall the first time she heard them. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They glide around the ballroom, as if the whole scene was made for them. Perhaps it was, but this fate feels natural, as if destiny can ever be anything other than superficial. She’s never learned to dance a day in her life, no practice has gone in. And yet here she goes, acting as if she was made to be here.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The tune slows down, and Jareth’s voice lowers. The song becomes a light chant, with only the words ‘falling in love’ being repeated over and over again. She mouths along to them, but doesn’t interrupt, as if it’ll all stop when she dares to make a noise. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Their dances match the rhythm, and because the song slows, so do they. Sarah buries her head in Jareth’s shoulder, grateful for the few inches of height between them. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This isn’t the end of us.” Their hands unclasp, hers connecting behind his head, his on the small of her back. “Oh Sarah, we’ve barely begun.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The gleam off every bright surface is too bright for Jareth. It isn’t his natural habitat. If Sarah is being honest, it gives her a headache. The scenery is a childhood dream she would’ve done anything for years ago. How sad, she thinks, that something so perfect could make two so uncomfortable. And yet, there is some falsity to that, as Sarah has never felt tranquility like she does at this moment. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lack of any space between them convinces Sarah that every second of her life has been leading up to this. One way or another, this is how they will always end up.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>and that's on listening to As The World Falls Down on repeat during the writing of most of this. I hope you enjoyed, I've been infatuated with this pairing lately! kudos and comments are always appreciated, they make my day!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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